How did Backpedal get on BBC Radio 2?
Through digital PR. Foundry runs Backpedal's digital PR alongside its Google Ads, SEO and AI search, and that work produced the story that took Backpedal onto BBC Radio 2 in August 2026.
We won't publish more detail about the pitch here than is on the record in our case study. What we can share is the approach, because it's the same one we use for every client, and it's one any business can follow.
Who are Backpedal?
Backpedal is a UK company that helps cyclists recover stolen bikes and insure them. It's a specialist brand in a market dominated by big insurers, which makes credibility hard to earn and easy to lose.
That's exactly where coverage helps. When a national broadcaster features a smaller brand, it tells the people listening that this business is worth taking seriously.
What does Foundry do for Backpedal?
Four things, run as one plan.
- Google Ads: a rebuild that cut the searches bringing clicks but no customers. The conversion rate rose 7x in the first full month after it, and sales tripled the month after.
- SEO: articles on the questions cyclists ask, and on-page work on the key insurance and recovery terms. Organic traffic grew 50% every quarter for 12 months.
- AI search: making sure assistants have clear, consistent facts about Backpedal to draw on.
- Digital PR: the story that took Backpedal onto BBC Radio 2.
What does national radio look for in a story?
The same things national newspapers look for, with one addition: it has to work out loud. Radio needs a story people can follow without seeing anything, and a spokesperson who can explain it clearly in a short conversation.
- A subject that touches everyday listeners, not just an industry.
- Something timely, linked to what people are already talking about.
- A real person with first-hand knowledge or experience.
- Practical value: something listeners can do or watch out for.
How can your business get on national radio?
This is the method we use for broadcast. It's the same shape as print, adjusted for radio.
- Find the angle that matters to the general public, not just your customers.
- Pick the programmes whose listeners care about that subject.
- Write a short pitch: the story in one line, why it matters now, and who can speak.
- Prepare your spokesperson: three key points, plain words and real examples.
- Be available. Broadcast slots can come up at short notice.
- Reply within the hour when a producer or journalist gets in touch.
- Afterwards, share the feature and add it to your website, so it keeps working.
Why does a broadcast feature help beyond the day it airs?
Because it becomes proof. A feature on BBC Radio 2 is something Backpedal can show on its website, in its ads and in its sales conversations, long after the programme has aired.
It also adds to what's said about the brand across the web, which is what search engines and AI assistants draw on when they decide who to trust. That's why we treat PR as part of the same plan as SEO and AI search, not a separate project.
What can other businesses learn from it?
That you don't need to be a household name. You need a story that matters to the audience, a pitch aimed at the right people and a team ready to move when the answer is yes. Specialist businesses often have the best stories, because they see problems the general public doesn't know about yet.